Abstract
Masix is a distributed multi-server operating system based on the Mach microkernel, with multiple personality support. Its main feature is a distributed generic layer (DGL), which offers distributed services to the personalities. The distributed multi-server architecture of Masix grants it a high modularity, but also raises many issues, such as transparency, security and performance, which cannot be solved without adequate communication services. To provide total transparency, we extend the traditional Mach communication model to a workstation network by interposing a generic network server (GNS) between the tasks and the microkernel. We defined a global name service, based on a name resolution protocol, which allows any pair of Mach remote tasks to communicate transparently, using the local Mach IPC semantics. Our name server also provides local and remote authentication mechanisms, based on digital signatures and a secret key algorithm. To prevent eavesdropping, all remote communications are transparently encrypted by the GNS, using a public key algorithm. These security measures can be easily merged into the name service, to yield a secure distributed name resolution protocol. Microkernel based-systems are traditionally criticized for their relatively poor performance. As far as network services are concerned, experiments show that a good performance level can be reached, provided that the distinctive features of microkernels are taken into account.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.